68 - video/action; - forward dated to midnight

[islandshore]

[The feed opens with ominous music. The camera's shaking. The town's dark. Everything appears rigid. Sharp. Off camera, a voice can be heard, slightly distorted.]

N-no way. Not again!

[The camera pans, ever so slowly, to show the following...]



[Seven feet of stiff pixels. It's not alone, either. Off to the side, viewers are treated to...]



[And as the camera continues to pan, more and more monsters seem to have met the same fate.]



[They flicker. Briefly, they move and look like normal Pokémon, only to stiffen up again. The music drones on and one. And on...

The camera pulls away. Riku looks to the screen, trying to keep his expression blank, but his lips twitch, trying to form a frown.]

This happened before. It's just like the first Halloween I spent here. The lanscape's blocky. My Pokémon are barely moving. Bet you anything there's a MISSINGNO. just waiting to pop up.

[The camera shakes a bit. The hallway, dark and pixelated as it is, seems to scroll behind him. Off to the side, images of more blocky creatures emerge, some in better states than others.



He passes through a doorway. The scenery abruptly shifts to Celadon City, not that you'd recognize it with everything reduced to pixels. Outside, Riku slumps against the wall of the Training Center, its graphics slightly garbled and vaguely resembling a Gym Sprite. File not found...?

When Riku speaks again, the audio shifts up and down in pitch. Static distorts the feed, though Riku doesn't take notice at first.]

D̮̦͕̳̳̳̖̬ͅo̺e͉̘s̢̟̱͙̬̩̼͢ͅ ̜̩̻̖̘͟a͕̰̙̫̦̟̻͇̕n̛̮̞̖̲͈͖͇͚̼ỳ̀͏̠͇̜̘ơ̮͙͉̬͕͔͍͜ṉ̴̝̦͚̕e̴͕ ̢̹͓͚̗r̞̩̜̳̹̥̝ḛ̷̘̫̫̰̱m̨̩̭̝͔͉e̜̙̭͖͓͙̜̩̝͟͞m̛̫̦̮̲͈͓̲͘b̺͓͔̺̀͞͠ȩ̬̳̬̬̤r̵͓̺ ̶̵͕̰̝̩͓̰̦͜t͈̟̬̬̬̟̘͍h̵͕̤̰̳͔͍́͘e̝̭͚͈̪͉̲ ̪̺͙̤͕͖͡f̩̟̱̤͘ͅì͔͖̼͙̀͘r̫̞̪̥̙s̮̪̰̗̼̙̦̯t̶̛̝̝͎̠ ̘̹͉̙̬̲̥͠͡t͕̺͟͞i̵͏͕͚̬̬̟ͅm͚͓̠̪͕̘͖͘͘é̥̳͕̫̦̻̜̱ ̷̟͖̩̼̱̻͇́ṯ̗̪̖͚̞͓͠h̛̬͔̘̲̙͈̪͘i͟͞҉͈̜s͏͉̞͉̬͉̫̰ ̘̼̯͉͓͎͝ẖ̙͙̥̲͕̺̖̮͘à̭p͏̤̞̟̣̮̯̜̰̀p͍̥̱̦̥̱̤ͅe̥͎͎̫͙͔̹͠͡ͅn̢͔̤̪̹̣͈͖̝ḛ̳̼̙̻̥̲͘ḑ͕̤̰?̸̹̠̟͕̠͟ The music kept going, playing this same stupid song for days. Everything was so l̘̗̗̲̟̱̪͚͔̰̻͇̟̤̫̋̑̆ͦ͝͡į̧̭̖̭͉̥̰͛͌̎ͯͪ̍̊͆ͥ̄f̴̺̹͉̖̤̦̲̺̩̯̓̆̐̉̾͗̂ͫ͌̈́ͯ̑ͪ́͟e͆̔̋̄ͮ̒ͫͭ̚͏̧̩̙̫̗̜̗̘̦͇̻̪̪̮̘̼͘͝͝ͅl̴̛̯͈͚̘͇̱̣̲̝̘͓̣̬͂̐̄ͧ̓̍̀ͮ͊ͣ̃ͅe̴̛͙̣̘͍̪̹̖̘̣̺̞̣̱̮̻̖̙̾ͫ̀́̉ͭͧ̃͆͋́̍̾͐͂ͪ̒ͨ̔̀͢͡s̨̛̔ͪ̒̋ͫ̾͋̚͟͞͏̹̖̱͔̠͈̤̹͇̙̭̩͍̪̗ͅͅsͨͩ̉̈̋̃ͣ͌̓̎ͭ҉͓̫̱̭̣̟̬̗̕.̀̄͑̍̂ͪ̉́ͣ̑ͤ͋̉̌̋̚͠͏̨͍͕̮̹.̵̷̡͉͍͇͔̖͙͍̜̞͓͔ͫͮͣ̏͛͂͋͂ͧͦ̽̃̈͌͘͟.̷͙͉̘͇̤̜̱͙̰̣̩̂ͥ̈̀͟

It's probably the same across the board, but just in case, is there anyone who isn't surrounded by pixels? I'm gonna do some recon, see how the locals are taking it, but if anyone's confused, I can try to--

[The screen ripples, then fills with a flash of static as this sound starts to play, if only for a moment.

Soon after, the following message appears.]

An error has occurred. To continue:

Press ENTER to return to POKéCONNECT or

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your device. If you do this, you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.

Error : 0E : 016F : BFF9B3D4

Press any key to continue_

[Following the broadcast, he can be found wandering from Celadon across the various cities. He's a man on a mission, determined to sort out what's going on and find someone, anyone who isn't completely clueless about the situation.]

Comments

[video]

[paladinlost]

[Cecil does recognize Celadon City, since he, you know, lives there. But he also recognizes that the network is collapsing on itself, so...]

...If you can receive this message, please come throw a rock at my window. I'd say 'respond', but... Well. I've already started noting down differences from last time, and your input would be appreciated.

action

[islandshore]

[Given the 'Gear's malfunctioning state, Riku doesn't want to take his chances. So, per Cecil's request, he maneuvers his way toward his house, a blocky rock in hand.

And yes, he's tossing it at the window.

Hopefully it won't cause too much damage!]

action

[paladinlost]

[The only damage it causes is waking Avenger, which is his own fault for sleeping on his watch, really. He opens the window a crack, checks who's there and calls out inside. Moments later, the front door unlocks and Cecil comes out, wearing his armor and followed by all three of his Aegislashes. He looks quite relieved.]

Thank goodness. Between the network's issues and... everything else, I was starting to wonder if we'd all end up isolated and easy pickings for the MISSINGNOs.

action

[islandshore]

[It's a huge relief to see a Pokémon behaving normally. A small smile works its way across Riku's face, and he titters.]

Nah. Haven't bumped into any MISSINGNO. yet, but I think that's the key word. I mean, they've gotta be somewhere, right?

Why else would the world change like this?

action

[paladinlost]

[Cecil frowns, deep in thought. Behind him, the Aegislashes keep looking nervously at the street.]

It's likely they are currently active throughout both regions, yes. Then again... The music is not quite the same, and it appears certain Pokémon are less affected than before. Could these differences be linked to the absence or presence of MISSINGNO?

action

[heartdive]

[ sorry but Sora's not wasting any time throwing on some clothes and darting out the door. ]

Riku! What's going on?

[ concerned? worried? you bet! ]

action

[islandshore]

Sora!

[Whew. Okay. He's fine. He's normal. That's one thing he can appreciate. The music keeps going and going, and it's getting extremely grating, but he'll just focus on the one shred of normalcy before him.]

It's... well, a glitch. Haven't seen one this widespread in a while, but everything's acting like it's straight out of a game.

Pretty sure the whole region's hit by it, too.

action

[heartdive]

[ it's the small things that matter right now, huh? Sora takes in Riku and is thankful that nothing seems to be wrong with him.

bad enough his teammates are looking odd. ]

So it's you too... I thought I was maybe just seeing things.

action

[islandshore]

No.

[He breathes a heavy sigh, eying the glitched up Training Center.]

I mean, I guess it's technically harmless. Routes are probably shorter right now, so it's a good time to travel...

[But it's still eerie, and for Sora, probably more than a little spooky.]

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

[His feed is a little staticy, but he flicks the side when he notices it getting particularly bad. As though that'll do something.]

Wait, this is what happened six O̟̪̦̤̩͓̞ͥ̾̿̂̊̍͂͐̕cͭ҉̙̤͕̩̫͓͔t̼̮̝̥͖͙̰ͪ͋̐̾ͥ̊ͅo̦͓̗̫̜͖͊̇b͚̖̯͖̙̋ͧ͆̀̌ͣͥͨ̆̀̀ͅė̗̫̱͂̐̄́r̯̝̘̻̘̯̽́s ago?

[Video]

[islandshore]

I don't remember the Gears messing up like this, but--

[The camera flickers off for a moment, then back on.]

Everything else lines up almost perfectly. Too perfectly.

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

I only ever heard about the music... I got here right after it was over.

W͏h̷a̷͞t ͘͡ą̶ ̴͡p͘a̷͟͡i̴͢n.̴̕͝

[Video] sorry about the delay! was out of town x_x

[islandshore]

Heh. Well, you at least saw the M͚͎I̶̮̜̣̣̞̟S̠͎̪͚̬͓͡S̱͎̖I̦̣̬̗̭̩̝Ṉ̦ͅG̩̥̺N̻O̴.̹̜̻̜̣ the last time

[The audio cuts out, replaced with a loud beep.]

...Right?

[He intended to ask about the previous MISSINGNO. incident. The more recent one. Unfortunately, the glitchiness may've impaired his message.]

[Video] No problem :)

[tearsofademon]

[The good news is, he gets the intended meaning.]

If that's what those w̯̬͎͉e̘̮i̺͙̦͉r̙͖͍̠͖̺̬̣d̬͍̼̜̗̯ͅ ̰t͚̯ḫ͍ị̞̩n͇͓͙̗g̰̥̘̫s̝̰̠̪̤ were called, yeah.

action

[shotlocking]

[ ... good thing about... whatever the heck is going on? Aqua's managed to make it to Celadon pretty quickly. Good job, Riku, you've activated Mom. ]

Riku! Oh, thank goodness--are you alright? I saw your video, but my gear keeps malfunctioning.

action

[islandshore]

[Oh! Hello, mom, who is... actually younger than he is. Not that he's complaining. He's just glad to see a friendly face, and he's quick to approach her.]

Yeah, same. But I'm fine. Just... kinda shocked, you know?

Didn't think we'd have to go through this again.

action

[shotlocking]

I can't blame you. This is all so strange--

... Do things like this happen very often?

[ She's pretty relieved to see him, too, but all of this... everything... is... um. ]

action

[islandshore]

Not too often, but it's happened before.

[He pauses.]

Technically twice.

[Granted, the second time around, circumstances were different. The whole place didn't become a cryptic, glitchy mess with eerie music. It was just MISSINGNO.]

action

[shotlocking]

[ Aqua supposes she'll get used to it--she's gotten accustomed to worse, after all. But.

Yes, that music is really creepy. ]

I can't imagine how many odd things you've seen during your time here.

Video

[coolskeleton_95]

I CAN'T FIND THE ANY KEY! MY POKE-GEAR IS DEFECTIVE!!!

Video - sorry this took forever. went out of town and forgot to post a hiatus x_x

[islandshore]

Wait, what's this about a

[The screen fills with static again, followed by a test pattern, followed by an inverted color version of the normal video feed.

Frowning, Riku whacks his device.]

Hey, can you hear me?

[Stupid malfunctions...]

Video - NP! Happened to me too- except I'd just started a huge plot and went to no wifi land!

[coolskeleton_95]

NYEH? YES! YES, I CAN HEAR YOU, HUMAN!

Video

[islandshore]

Good. At least it's sort of w͕͓̼̕ọ̢͙̗r̳̘͈͓̝̩͢k͉̘̗͓̟̫̱i͇n̛͕̪̳̻g̟̺͕͞...

[Aside from some pixelation and distorting on the video track, at any rate.]

Looks like your 'Gear's working okay now. What's this about an "any" key, though?

[video]

[charcoalfeather]

Wha- [And then it cuts off.

Error. Error. It's probably a distressing thing to see on both sides.

....... And she's back again. Boy, does Rakka look like she's having fun.]

D-did you say this actually happened before?

[video] one million years later with starbucks

[islandshore]

[He starts to speak several times, but each time, something goes wrong.

The screen blacks out. The audio is replaced by white noise. Pixels distort the screen.

After a few more failed attempts, he manages to get through.]

Yeah. It's technically happened a few times, but the last time it got this bad was around six yeas ago.